Safety belt lock



l 7, 1970 w. G. STEVENSON 3,504,867

SAFETY BELT LOCK Filed Sept. 29, 1967 I 89 85 um 88 "III, u. Q.z;.:" "omtep. 37 lg: 39 IOIx/N 59 Q 24 g I N L :3 27 INVENTOR.

g I WENDELL e. STEVENSON 29 36 f; BY 7 v 34 9s 99 24 28 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,504,867 SAFETY BELT LOCK Wendell G. Stevenson, New Baltimore, Mich. (27832 Grant St., St. Clair Shores, Mich. 48080) Filed Sept. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 671,729 Int. Cl. B65h 75/26 US. Cl. 242107.2 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is a safety seat belt device providing a programming arrangement which automatically regulates the amount of strap or belt that is to be used under a given set of circumstances, and utilizes a unique centrifugally controlled jaw arrangement for automatically clamping or holding the strap or belt in place at the desired extension of the strap by the user.

This invention relates to locking devices for Webbing, and more particularly to locking devices for seat belt mechanisms.

It is an object of this invention to provide an unwinding lock for a web or strap operated reeling and unreeling device that is actuated by the rate of travel of the web as said strap is unreeled.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a strap locking device having a pair of controlled floating jaws operable to grip the webbing used in a reeling and unreeling device in response to sudden acceleration in the rate of travel of said webbing.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a centrifugal programming means for a reeling and unreeling device.

It is another and further oject of this invention to provide a reeling and unreeling device with a centrifugal and inertial programming means having outwardly extending flyweights carried by a reel and a counterweight means for automatically retracting the flyweights.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a lock for releasably securing webbing wherein the webbing is sandwiched between a pair of floating aws controlled to move towards each other on an inclined plane towards said webbing in such relationship with the webbing that friction of said webbing bearing on said jaws causes said jaws to pull together with increased tension as the tension on said webbing is increased.

Other and further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following description and claims thereto in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view partially sectioned, showing the device with the belt or strap retracted and the strap clamping jaws open and at rest.

FIGURE 2 is a partially sectioned side elevational view showing the belt, strap or webbing partially extended with the jaws in clamping position gripping the strap or webbing.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the device, partially cut away to disclose the jaw mechanism, the retractor and combination centrifugal and inertial force responsive web controlling unit.

FIGURE 4 is a partially sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3 showing the flyweights or centrifugally and inertially responsive cogs at rest and in extended position.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to FIGURES 1, 2, and 3 thereof, the device is generally denoted by the numeral and the views disclose a webbing, belt, or strap dispenser casing 11 for supporting the various parts of the device in accordance with the invention as disclosed in the description thereof which now ice follows. Said casing 11 includes a jaw retaining portion r12 of generally hollow tubular rectangular outline defined by a forward front vertical wall 13, rearwardly bent side walls 14 upturned from said front wall and rearwardly bent to form tapered return flanges 15 joining each other at substantially the center 16 of said tubular portion 12, said return flanges tapering at an acute ang e towards the forward upper edge 16a of said front wall 13. Said side walls 14 are extended downwardly be ow said return flanges 15 forming partially circular spaced ears 17. Said forward disposed wall 13 is extended below said ears 17 forming a hanger portion 18 having a circular opening 19 to receive a bolt 20 for securing said casing to a vehicle body 21. Programming, retracting and extension means 22 is mounted on said casing about said ears and includes a rotatable shaft 23 journaled in openings 24 centrally positioned in said ears in line with each other. Said shaft having a portion 25 protruding exteriorly of right ear 26 for mounting the strap retracting means 27, and a left portion 27a protruding exteriorly of left ear 28 for mounting the centrifugal and inertial responsive programming means 29. The strap retracting means 27 is of generally conventional construction including a coil spring 31 and a cylindrical cover 32 for containing said spring 31. Said spring 31 is biased by mounting on said shaft and said casing to cause tension to bear as the strap 32 is pulled or extended from said casing. Said programming, retracting and extension means 22 includes a centrifugal and inertial responsive actuator 33 having a flat washer 34 bearing on the outside face 35 of said left ear 28, a cylindrical backing or thrust washer 36 riding on said flat washer, a swinging fly-weight or cog retaining wheel 37 fixedly mounted on said shaft by oppositely disposed flats 38 with wheel face 39 bearing on said thrust washer, three identical swinging centn'fugally operated fly-weights or cogs 39a having a partially cylindrical pivot portion 40 journaled in a matching partially cylindrical slot 41 formed adjacent the perimeter 42 of said cog wheel 37, said cogs equally spaced radially about said perimeter of said cog wheel and lying conterminous with the periphery 47 of said cog wheel on the outside edge 43 thereof with the inside edge 44 conforming to an S-shaped continuation 45 of said slot 41, when said cog wheel is at rest. Said outside edge 43 and said inside edge 44 of said cogs converge to form a striker portion 46 disposed a substantial distance from the periphery 47 of said cog wheel when said cog wheel is in motion for energizing a web or strap securing means to be described infra. Said cogs 39a are further provided with an elongated slot 48 extending longitudina ly adjacent the inside edge 44 inclined in relation to the axis of rotation of said cog wheel. A cylindrical inertia wheel 49 is mounted on said shaft adjacent said cog wheel, said inertia wheel having pins 50 integrally mounted thereon engaging said slots in spaced relation predetermined to cause said cogs to move towards the center of said cog wheel when said inertia wheel is rotated clockwise and cause said cogs to move outwardly when said inertia wheel is stationary with respect to said cog wheel and said cog wheel is rotated clockwise. Said inertia wheel 49 further has a generally pie-shaped opening 51 adjacent to and interengaging the inertia wheel bearing 52. Inertia wheel prong 53 is carried fixedly and normal to said inertia wheel by said cog wheel, said prong extending into said pie-shaped opening. Compression cog return spring 54 is mounted in said pie-shaped opening one end 55 engaging wall 56 of said pie-shaped opening and the other end 57 engaging said prong so that pressure is exerted to bias said cog wheel in opposite directions radially moving said pins adjacent the fartherest clockwise end 58 of said cog slot 48 when said shaft is at rest, the centrifugal and inertial forces operable to cause said spring to be compressed permitting said cog wheel and inertial wheel to rotate with relation to each other moving said pins counterclockwise in relation to said slots and thereby exerting pressure in cooperation with the centrifugal forces generated by the rotation of said shaft to move said cogs outwardly into position to strike. Flat washer 59 and split ring lock washer 60 secure said centrifugal responsive unit 33 to said shaft substantially restricting endwise motion thereof. Web, belt or strap 32 is fixedly attached to said shaft 23 between said ears and wrapped thereon with said coil spring 31 biased to cause said strap to be retracted into said casing automatically when said strap is released. Strap extension prevention means 61 includes a cradle jaw member 62 having a forward straight back wall 63, an inside vertical wall 64 adjacent said back wall bearing teeth 65, horizontal guide walls 66 and 67 normal to said back wall 63, said horizontal guide walls having strap guide slots or openings 79 therethrough for guiding said strap adjacent said teeth a nesting jaw 68 mounted on an anti-friction Teflon surface or a friction-free late or bearings 69, said bearing plate in turn is mounted on front wall 70 of jaw guide 71, rear wall 72 of said jaw guide is mounted on inside walls 73 of said return flanges 15 by screws 74 and an anti-friction plate or surface 75 is provided between said nesting jaw 68 and said jaw guide to reduce the friction between said nesting jaw and said jaw guide, said jaw guide further having a lower stop flange 76 for preventing downward movement of said jaws. Said horizontal guide walls 66 and 67 and inside vertical wall 64 subtsantially cradle said nesting jaw preventing vertical movement of said nesting jaw except as in conjunction with vertical movement of said cradle jaw. Said nesting jaw has teeth 78 located on vertical wall 77 thereof adjacent teeth 65, said cradle jaw teeth 65 and said nesting jaw teeth providing a torturous path for said strap which is extended between them through said strap guide slots 79. It is now apparent from the drawing and description that jaw guide rear wall is beveled to match the angle of said return flanges and front vertical nesting jaw teeth wall 77 moves inwardly towards said cradle jaw teeth 65, restricted by said guide walls 66 and 67 to substantially lateral movement with relation to said cradle jaw, clamping said strap when said jaws are caused to move in an upward direction or away from said shaft. Transverse semi-circular groove 80 is formed at the junction of said front vertical wall 13 and bottom guide wall 81 for engagement by striker means 82 which includes a generally U-shaped wire with the top ends 82a of the wire reversely bent to form pins or pivots, the right side pivot 83 engaging a vertical slot 83a in right hand casing wall 84 and the left hand pivot 85 engaging an in-line corresponding vertical slot 86 in left hand casing wall 87. Left side pivot portion 85 extends outwardly of said casing wall 87 substantially to accommodate a V-shaped jaw striker spring 88 secured pivotably on said left side pivot portion 85 by coil portion 89, one leg 90 of said spring 88 engaging stop tab 91 which project outwardly from said casing left wall 87 and the other leg 92 of said spring 88 engaging edge 93 of striker actuator 94, said spring 88 operable to bias said striker actuator into engagement with cogs 39a at predetermined times. Said striker actuator 94 is provided with a boss 95, a longitudinal bore 96 in said boss, said bore engaging said left side pivot portion, a set screw 97 radially mounted in said boss tightened on said left side pivot portion to cause said striker actuator and said U-shaped wire to pivot about said vertical slots 83 and 86 as a unit. Bottom portion 98 of said U-shaped wire mounts a roller 99 for engaging strap 32 and the angle 100 between said edge 93 of said striker actuator and U-shaped wire legs 101 is adjustable by loosening said set screw and rotating said striker actuator on said left side pivot portion to the desired angle 100 for programming the amount or len th of strap that is extended from said casing before the striker actuator corner 102 engages cog wheel striker portion 46. It is understood that the lesser is the degree of angle 100, the greater the amount of strap that may be pulled rapidly from said casing without said corner 102 engaging striker portion 46.

In operation, the strap 32 is at rest in the casing at the side of a seat with the buckle lying outside of the casing. The strap is grasped by the operator and may be pulled rapidly out of the casing a length predetermined by the pre-set programming means 22 until corner 102 is sufficiently lowered to engage cog wheel striker portion 46. When corner 102 is struck by said striker portion 46, U- shaped wire is forced upward and the left hand pivot, which is in contact with transverse semi-circular groove 80, exerts upward pressure against said groove and said cradle jaw causing said jaw to move upward slightly whereupon said jaws move laterally inward and said teeth catch said strap and the continued tension on said strap causes said jaws to clamp tightly upon said strap independently of said programming means. Said jaws remain tightly clamped to said strap as long as tension is maintained on said strap, however, when tension is lessened, said jaws slide back on said anti-friction slide surfaces 69 and 103, said slide surface 103 mounted between inside vertical wall 104 and forward straight back wall 63, upon slight downward pressure on said strap. The angle 106 between said nesting jaw vertical tooth wall 77 and jaw guide rear wall 105 found to give the best results is fifteen degrees, however, this may be varied between ten and 20 degrees depending upon the application.

I am aware that many changes may be made, and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by the prior art pertaining thereto.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. A retractable seat belt comprising, a strap, a means means movable in a retracting direction for retracting said strap and movable in an extending direction for permitting extension of said strap,

clamping means for preventing extension of said strap by clamping said strap when said strap has been extended to any selected length within a wide range of lengths, and automatic programming means responsive to the rate of travel of said strap during extension thereof including a striker member for rendering said clamping means ineffective to clamp said strap during substantially slow travel of said strap to said selected length and rendering said clamping means effective to clamp said strap in response to sudden acceleration of said strap during extension thereof.

2. A retractable seat belt comprising, a strap, means movable in a retracting direction for retracting said strap 60 and movable in an extending direction for permitting extension of said strap;

means for preventing extension of said strap when said strap has been extended to any selected length within the range of the length of the belt including a pair of floating inclined jaws having said strap sandwiched between them; and automatic programming means energized proportionately in response to the rate of travel of said strap during extension thereof for rendering said jaws ineffective while said strap is being slowly extended and for rendering said jaws efl'ective to prevent extension of said strap in response to sudden acceleration of said strap.

3. A retractable seat belt comprising, a strap, means movable in a retracting direction for retracting said strap and movable in an extending direction for permitting extension of said strap;

inertia and centrifugal programming means energized in response to the rate of travel of said strap during extension thereof; means for preventing extension of said strap when said strap has been extended to any selected length within a wide range of lengths including a pair of floating jaws arranged so that said strap is sandwiched between them; and a striker included with said programming means rendering said jaws ineffective while said strap is 1 being slowly extended and rendering said jaws effective to prevent extension of said strap in response to sudden acceleration of said strap during extension thereof. 4. A locking device for webbing comprising, a strap, a casing, and means for preventing extension of said strap from said casing including a pair of floating jaws mounted on said casing with said strap sandwiched between them, one of said jaws having a guide surface inclined at an acute angle towards said strap, means carried by said casing supporting said guide surfaces for moving said jaws into engagement with said strap, one of said jaws having walls nesting the other of said jaws within it for permitting movement of said jaws laterally with respect to each other and preventing longitudinal movement of said jaws with respect to each other.

5. A retractable seat belt comprising, a strap, a means movable in a retracting direction for retracting said strap and movable in an extending direction for permitting extension of said strap;

claimping means for preventing extension of said strap by directly clamping said strap when said strap has been extended to any selected length within a wide range of lengths;

and automatic programming means responsive to the rate of travel of said strap during extension thereof to permit rapid extension of said strap to a selected length, slow extension of said strap thereafter until said strap is suddenly accelerated and said programming means automatically renders said clamping means effective to prevent further extension of said strap.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 4 wherein said jaws are further defined as riding on anti-friction Teflon surfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,205,004 9/1965 Spouge 297388 3,237,729 3/ 1966 Proctor.

3,286,946 11/1966 Board et a1 242-107.2 3,323,829 6/1967 Liem 242107.2 X 3,375,994 4/1968 Wohlert et al. 242107.2 3,389,874 6/1968 Van Noord 242-107.2

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner W. H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 242107.4 

